Inception: Gallows Files
by Kigai Okasu
Summary: Follow Agent Kenneth Gallows, an extractor working for the FBI, as he uses dream-share technology to combat crime and uncover a plot against one of his own team members. All comments and suggestions are welcome.
1. Part 1 Chapter 1

"_So are you going to take a leap of faith? Or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone?"_

_Those were among the last words that he told me just before I wound up here. That's what came to my mind as I was washed ashore and stared at the base of the sheer cliff beside me, my gaze traveling up the side of the cliff, ending at the top as the waves continued to crash against it. I had taken that leap of faith several times over the course of this adventure. Now it was up to me and me alone to obtain what I truly want at the top._

-Inception: Gallows Files-

Part 1

Chapter 1

In an elaborate conference room sat a man with short red hair and brown eyes by the name of Kenneth Gallows, FBI Special Agent in Charge, nearly dozing off as he waited for the others to gather. He often joked that he did his best work while he was asleep, but tried to keep himself up knowing that having someone walk in now would leave a bad impression. As he waited, he fiddled around with a small object in his pocket. He kept placing it between each of his fingers over and over again all while never drawing it out in plain sight. However, something was different about the object than how he remembered it.

It was during this particular musing that a woman with blonde hair in a high ponytail and green eyes wearing a grey business suit walked into the conference room carrying a notepad and a manila folder. "Agent Gallows, I presume?"

"Yes, that's me," Gallows replied, rising to his feet.

"Sidney Albright, CIA. A pleasure to see you again," she said, extending her hand for a handshake.

Though he shook her hand accordingly, he couldn't help but have doubt go through his mind as a result of what she said and the omen from the object in his pocket earlier. _A pleasure to see you again? I don't know anyone from the CIA. Not to mention the CIA doesn't really make a whole lot of contact with the FBI anyway. And then there's the totem…_

"A pleasure to see you as well," he replied, opting to not respond to the contradiction in her words. "So what would someone from the CIA want with a guy like me?"

"They say that you can build the best labyrinths in the US."

"Not really. I'm just the best they could find at the time. So then, I presume that this is about an extraction job?"

"Correct, but before I give you the details, I'd like to see a demonstration of your abilities," she responded, handing him a sheet of blank paper and a pen.

This was an exercise that Gallows was all too familiar with. He would often engage in it with his friends during his college years. The goal was to design a maze within two minutes that would take one minute to solve. Accepting the pen and paper, he began to draw out a labyrinth that nearly took up the entire paper. "Tell me something," Sidney began to say as he continued to draw up the labyrinth. "Do you trust your superiors and coworkers?"

"Of course I do. You have to in this business," he replied, handing her the freshly designed labyrinth and keeping a fixed gaze on her eyes as she began to solve it.

Sidney moved the pen across the path, quickly picking up the intended path of the maze. However, as she continued to solve the puzzle, she noticed that the pathway actually had a message within its confines. As she silently read the message, her eyes gave something of a flicker of surprise, and that was the very cue that Gallows had been looking for. The message contained five simple words. "This world is not real."

Seeing that one brief moment of surprise in her eyes was all Gallows needed to confirm his suspicions. _I knew it! Whoever she is, she's got me in a dream!_

She smiled as she finished the maze and handed the paper back to him. "Harder, and don't feel pressured by any sort of time limit," she said to him.

_That's it? Not the kind of reaction I would expect from someone who had just been caught in the act. She's either feigning ignorance, or whether or not she's been caught really isn't important. If it's the case of the latter, then she may have an accomplice running around and trying to extract the information, but what kind of information is she even looking for?_

Accepting the piece of paper and pen again, he began to draw again. "Tell me…What happens when a member of your society becomes too intelligent for their own good? What happens when someone's talent becomes so terrifying that it cannot be fully controlled by anyone other than a single individual?"

_Where's all this ideology stuff coming from?_

"I'm not sure, really," he said as he continued to draw the maze. "I guess it would depend on what they were capable of doing and what they intend to do. Not every genius is Adolf Hitler."

After a short time, he returned the paper back to her, and her eyes widened. Rather than draw a simple layout, Gallows had actually drawn out a three-dimensional labyrinth. The angle of the picture seemed as though it were a picture taken of a maze just over the top of the walls. Pathways blended with dead ends, walls were extended to the foreground at the angle of an eventual vanishing point, and there was nothing added to distinguish what might be a wall or a path. "A bit of lighting would help in solving something like this."

"That's not my problem. You wanted a harder maze, and I gave you one," he retorted, smirking.

"Touché," Sidney replied.

Sidney had often prided in being good at solving mazes, but this had to be the most difficult maze she had ever worked on. Most mazes were designed to get you lost. Others were designed to look intimidating by its narrow pathways, winding turns, and numerous dead ends. This maze, however, was clearly designed with the sole intent to confuse the one attempting to solve it. With no lighting, it became extremely difficult to be able to distinguish between the actual pathway and a wall that she might have accidentally been trying to go on. Frustration soon began to show up on her delicate features as she handed the paper back to him. "This is impossible!"

"No it's not. I'll even show you the trick."

Taking the piece of paper, Gallows ran the pen from the starting point, went through a series of pathways, and reached the end point. He then displayed the completed maze and smirked as she looked in amazement and noticed that the maze actually contained the same five word message that it had before. Not only that, but some of the walls and traps were starting to look familiar. "Wait, that's…that's the same maze you gave me before!"

"It's amazing how a little change in perspective can change everything, isn't it?"

"Is this why some of the people you work with also refer to you as 'The Magician'?"

"That's part of it, yes."

"And the other part?"

"Magician's code. Trade secret."

_Though I seriously doubt what you really want to pull from my subconscious is the secret behind my tricks in the level designs._

"At any rate, you've met my expectations, Agent Gallows. Your next assignment is to extract the idea of betrayal from the mind of a fellow extractor."

"The idea of betrayal? That sounds pretty abstract, Ms. Albright. Can I get some more details about this assignment?"

"All of the details will be delivered to you in due time. However, I can get you anything you'll need to complete this assignment."

Gallows smirked. "Okay then, how about we talk about this assignment somewhere a little more…secluded. Just the two of us."

"Mr. Gallows, I do believe it's just the two of us in here."

"No, not here. Anywhere but here," he continued with his smirk turning into a slightly mischievous grin.

"Mr. Gallows! Are you suggesting something…unprofessional?"

"Not quite, but it would involve getting to know you better. When I said anywhere but here, I meant in the real world."

"So then…you knew after all."

"I knew from the start. By the way, there's one thing you should know about level design."

"What's that?" she asked.

Her answer came in the sound of a large number of footsteps heading for the conference room that they occupied. "Whether the subject's subconscious is trained or not, when you set the stage for a security building or military base, or even a police headquarters, you can bet that every projection is going to be packing heat."

No sooner had he finished that sentence that numerous armed agents and personnel broke into the conference room and began to train their guns on Sidney Albright. The first shot fired among many came from a woman that the intruder seemed to recognize. A red-headed young woman with green eyes and freckles lowered her weapon once the kill had been made and the building began to shake and fall apart. _The dream is collapsing! So does that mean she was working alone after all?_

Kenneth Gallows didn't have any more time to ponder on the situation as the floor that he was standing on began to crumble underneath his feet and he descended floor after floor into a brief darkness.

Gallows soon came around and looked at his surroundings. He saw that he was still in his bedroom as he was supposed to be. However, unsure if this bedroom he was in now was actually his or another dream, he hastily grabbed a coin from the nightstand beside his bed. He placed his thumb on the upper ridge of the coin and bent it in half, then he released it and the coin returned to its original form as it was supposed to be. With his fears alleviated of being inside another dream, he checked the bottom of his left wrist. There were two needle-sized puncture wounds that were so small that they had seemed to have healed rather quickly, but their presence was what bothered him.

Someone had most definitely broken into his home, pulled him into a dream, and tried to steal information from his subconscious. He still didn't have a clue as to what that extractor had been trying to pull from his subconscious, and as a federal agent, there was not telling how many secrets he kept inside his mind. It could be anything. However, now was not the time to be thinking about what happened. He had to get up and clock in at work. He had heard that there was going to be someone new joining the team, and he was going to be the one to introduce them to the PASIV device and extraction.


	2. Part 1 Chapter 2

_ The fact that someone had broken into my place and tried to extract something from me bothered me all the way to the Bureau department. Whoever it was knew that I am an FBI Agent, and they knew where I lived. Who could have that kind of information on me and how? And what did they want to get out of me anyway? All the way to work, I kept trying to push it to the back of my mind. I still have a real job to do, and a real person to train._

Chapter 2

Gallows sat back in his chair in the conference room, which looked exactly like the one he had seen in the dream before, whistling as he waited for the new arrival to show up. As he did so, he kept one hand in his pocket and kept bending his trick coin down and letting it pop right back up again and again. There was no doubt that this place was real this time. As he continued to wait, his mind drifted back to when he was a new recruit in the FBI himself.

_Standing beside Agent Gallows was an older man with silver hair that only remained on the sides of his head and a white mustache and goatee. This man was his supervisor Rick Taylor. "I was hoping to get you acquainted with all of the people you'll be working with in this field, but only one is currently available."_

_ "It's fine, sir. That'll make things less nerve-racking."_

_ "Since when does a showman have stage fright?"_

_ "When they're among the audience and not on stage. Besides, this isn't a theater, and I'll be the rookie at what I'm doing."_

_ "Just remember that you were asked to join the Bureau because you're good at what you do."_

_ "Thanks."_

_ As Taylor opened the door to the conference room, he was greeted by a woman with red hair a lighter shade than his own, green eyes, and freckles. "Ah, so you must be the new architect that'll be joining us today. Sorry about the lack of a welcoming committee."_

_ "Don't worry about it," he replied._

_ The woman then got out of her seat and extended her hand for a handshake. "Susan Eurydice. I'm a forger."_

_ Gallows shook her hand once she finished her succinct introduction. "A forger?"_

_ "It's one of the terms for one's abilities in this particular field. For example, an architect, such as you, designs the layouts of the dreams created. I, as a forger, am able to project false images of myself and disguise myself as other people."_

_ "Ah, yes, I see. I just always referred to them as projectionists in school."_

_ "Forger is a street name for the same thing. And your name is…"_

_ "Oh! That's right, I'm sorry. Kenneth Gallows. Nice to meet you."_

_ "Gallows, huh? So the school you were attending was one of the ones that were selected in researching dream-share technology?"_

_ "Yes. I was studying theater and set design abroad when the head of the theater department told me to check out the architecture department to 'expand my creative horizons'."_

_ "Theater? Set design? How do those relate to being an architect?"_

_ "I'll tell you in a minute, but first, do you have a quarter? I could use a snack."_

_ "Uh, sure," Susan replied, handing him the coin that he required._

_ He pulled his right hand out of his pocket and took the coin. He then moved it up his palm, placing it between his thumb and index finger before placing the coin in his mouth. "What are you doing?" Susan asked in surprise._

_ He then made a motion with this mouth of biting down hard and chewing, showing her the quarter she had just handed him now jaggedly divided in two. "Eating a snack. Do you have any idea how much they charge for food in those vending machines? It's outrageous!"_

_ "What's outrageous is you eating half of a quarter!"_

_ "So I ate an eighth?"_

_ "Gallows!"_

_ "Alright, alright. If you want it back that badly," he said just before spitting at the coin, instantly making it whole again._

_ "Here you go," he said before palming the quarter, moving it back up his hand again, and flipping it towards her._

_ As soon as Susan caught the recently half-devoured coin, she examined it to see if there was any significant damage to it, but she couldn't see any sign of it being tampered with at all. No break, no bite marks. It was exactly the same as when she had handed it to him. "How did you do that?"_

_ "Magician's code. Trade secret."_

_Darn it, Gallows, stop doing this to yourself! She's gone! She's never coming back! Just let her go already!_

As he tried to bring himself back to the present, he heard the conference room door open. He turned his head around to see his supervisor, Rick Taylor, allow a young brunette woman with sapphire eyes and her hair tightly rolled up in the back. Judging by the look on her face, Gallows came to the conclusion that she was more of a no-nonsense type despite being a rookie. _Reeve's going to have some fun with this girl._

"Jenna Takkins, this is Special Agent in Charge Kenneth Gallows," Taylor began as an attempt to break the ice.

"Pleased to meet you," she simply said as she extended her hand, but maintained the same poker face and tone as she did when she walked into the room.

"Likewise. Sorry about the lack of a welcoming committee," he replied, briefly realizing that he just mirrored the way Susan greeted him when they first met.

As quickly as the moment of déjà vu came, he dispelled it and placed his attention back to Takkins. "I took a look at your file yesterday. So you specialize in gathering information, right?"

"Yes sir."

"How good are you with firearms?"

"Currently, I have a ninety percent target accuracy record with a standard issue firearm."

"So you're not good. You're dang good."

"If you wish to put it that way, yes sir."

"You know, you don't have to be so formal. Come on, let's go for a walk."

"They say that when we're awake, we only use about ten percent of our brain's processing power. When we're asleep, however, our brains can come up with just about anything. Time, space, events, it's all within the command of our subconscious," Gallows told her as they walked down one of the many busy streets of New York City, filled with streams of cars flowing in both directions, street vendors, the occasional steamy manhole cover, and as many noises in the air as there were people. "When you think about it, our brains in a dream are creating and perceiving our surroundings practically at the same time."

"Why are you talking about all of this stuff? You're sounding like I just got assigned to be a psychiatrist," Takkins asked unimpressed.

"You're not too far off, actually. What we're going to be doing is help catch criminals by pulling information from their subconscious. Unlike psychoanalysis, however, we do so by taking over the subject's creating part in a dream and allow their subconscious to fill up the dream space with their secrets. It's called extraction."

"Are you sure you should be talking about this kind of stuff out in the open like this? What about all of these people?" Takkins asked, now studying the expressions of the people she passed by, but finding it strange that they weren't reacting to what Gallows was saying at all.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about these guys. Not yet, anyway."

"How can you be so sure? This is classified information you're spouting off!"

"Let me ask you a question," Gallows began as a familiar red-haired woman with emerald eyes passed by. "Where did we just come from?"

"We just came from…," Takkins tried to respond, but she continues to draw a blank as to how they got to where they are now. Why was it so hard to remember?

"Having trouble remembering? Feeling like you somehow just wound up smack dab in the middle of where we are?" Gallows asked slyly.

Takkins kept trying to draw up the memory, but the longer she tried, the more the people around her began to stare at her suspiciously as they kept moving. "Want to take a guess at where we are right now?"

"We're…we're in a dream?" she sheepishly asked as she started to feel the ground tremble right beneath her feet.

"Exactly. More specifically, we're in your dream," Gallows replied as various chunks of asphalt and other debris began to explode followed by the explosion of said debris into smaller fragments.

"So you've got to calm down before you destroy the whole thing!" he shouted to her, trying to communicate with her over the sound of the destruction of the dream.

Taking a deep breath and concentrating, Takkins calms herself down and the self-destruction of the surrounding area ceases. "Wow. I guess the whole cool and collected demeanor wasn't just an act after all. You actually managed to stop the destruction of your dream with your will. Very impressive."

While she had managed to calm herself down, she still felt very uncomfortable with all of the people stopping what they were doing and staring at her. It was one thing to have a large number of people stare at you as they passed by. It was something else entirely when it seemed like all of New York City, even the ones in automobiles, came to a silent stop just to glare daggers at you. In fact, in the real New York City, it was downright impossible. "What is everyone staring at me for?"

"This is the next lesson in using dream-share technology. One person, you, constructs the dream-space while the subject, me, fills the space with their subconscious. The forms of the subconscious you'll see the most are projections of people. And because my subconscious is in your dream and not mine where they belong, they react to changes made to the dream and target the dreamer."

"Target them?"

"Yes. Since they're my subconscious, they're going to want to protect me, so when you change the dream space or increase the awareness of the subject that they're in a dream, the projections will become increasingly hostile and try to kill you to protect me."

"Is there any way to get out of here before that happens?"

"There are a couple of different ways, and no, none of them involve pinching or slapping yourself. The first way is for the PASIV device to stop administering the Somnacin compound," he replies as he looks at his watch. "And if my calculations are correct, that should be happening right about…"

Takkins quickly opened her eyes and saw that she was now reclined in a chair in a small room with a steel table, tile floor, white ceiling with a single light coming down from the center, and four, unadorned, dark green painted walls save for the entrance and a large mirror that nearly went from one corner of the room to the other. She recognized this place as one of the interrogation rooms inside headquarters. With her recollection restored, she heard a repetitive beeping sound and followed it to a complex device with several vials of some kind of substance, metal mechanical parts, a few LED displays, a large white button all housed within a stainless steel container that appeared to be half of a suitcase, and a small tube that extended from the device to her left wrist and left securely in place by a Velcro strap. "Looks like my calculations were right on the money," Gallows said to himself on the other side of the device, a similar tube attached to his own wrist.

"Calculations?"

"Well, you see, your brain works more quickly in the dream, and as a result, time passes by much faster in the dream than it does in the real world. Usually, there's someone standing by to give us a cue that the PASIV device is about to stop administering the Somnacin, but Reeve, Landers, and Russell aren't in here yet, so I had to do the math myself."

"So how long were we actually out?"

"Five minutes."

"Five minutes? It felt like we were strolling for an hour."

"That's right. It's that much of a difference. Standard composition of the Somnacin compound accelerates time twelve times faster than normal, but I've heard of some street chemists being able to get it up to twenty times normal."

"And that stuff gets into us via this tube?"

"Yep. This big boy is called the Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous device or PASIV for short."

"Are there any side-effects to using this stuff?"

"Only if you use it casually. Stick to using it for work only, and you'll be fine, but if you use too much of it, like you want to create your own dreams, then you lose your natural ability to dream. Anyway, now that we've got the hazing out of the way, let's move on to the next lesson, shall we?"

"Now that we've covered some of the basics like the effects the dreamer can have on the dream," Gallows began as he led Takkins up a set of stairs to the next floor of what appeared to be a busy museum with numerous paintings from different artists, eras, and styles as well as sculptures and other assorted decorations, "let's talk about the layouts of a dream. I'm the team's architect, so I'll be the primary person designing the layouts of the dream and then teaching those layouts to you or whoever else is making the dream. But for this little exercise, however, I'm creating this dream and you're the subject."

"Okay," Takkins simply replied as she continued to follow Gallows up the stairs.

"First of all, each dream is going to be constructed as a maze. I know I said earlier that the projections will become increasingly hostile as a result of changes to the dream space, but the truth is that they're going to become hostile anyway. They just become more hostile when the dream space keeps changing."

"Why is that?"

"Well, let's face it, nobody like someone being able to get inside their head. And then there's this," Gallows trailed off before going up one of the male projections. "Excuse me, but can you tell me what Jenna Takkins's social security number is?"

"Yeah. 285-64-"

"Hey!"

At Takkins's shout, some of the projections began to focus their attention on Gallows. "Okay, bad idea, but you get the point, right?"

"Right. So are talking to the projections the only way you extract information from a subject?"

"Not really. That's just one of the methods we use, and honestly one of the methods we use the least. Most of the time, we create something secure. It can be anything from a computer to a bank vault. The subject's mind automatically fills that secure place with information that it's trying to protect, and we break into that secure place and steal the information."

"I see."

"Moving on, the dream space is constructed as a maze to help us keep away from the projections, and the better the maze, the more time we have before they take us out."

"How big are these mazes?"

"Depends on the dream being created. They could be anything from a building floor to an entire city."

"I see," Takkins replied as she continued to go up the stairs, but for whatever reason, she didn't really feel like she was getting any farther up.

"The second thing we'll be using is paradoxical architecture. In the dream, you can create structures that act as closed loops by forming into impossible shapes, such as…"

"A never-ending staircase?"

"Yup. The infamous Penrose steps. Check it out."

As instructed, Takkins came up to the step that Gallows was currently standing on which was one before the next platform they would have to step on to round the corner. What she saw instead was that the staircase ended at that one step and had nothing from above it or below it to be able to keep the staircase suspended in midair. "Paradox," Gallows simply said.

Takkins stared at the bizarre sight for a moment before turning back to Gallows and following him as he descends down the staircase. "And last, but not least, we'll be using stage illusions."

"You mean like magic tricks?"

"Exactly. Now remember, when a dreamer changes the dream-space at will, the projections sense the changes made and react by becoming more hostile," he said as he made his way to the ground level and stood before a chair, designed in a similar fashion as a throne, placed flush against the wall. "However, using stage illusions buys us a little more time. They can be used to create a variety of alternative escape routes, and because it involves doing what seems to be impossible without changing the dream-space, the projections become confused. Observe."

Gallows then ripped off one of the curtains that hung beside the chair, sat in it, and covered himself and the chair with it. Takkins stood there for a minute and watched him, but didn't see him move. Another minute passed by before one of the security guards came up to her. "Excuse me, ma'am, but were you the one who did this?"

"Uh, no, my companion said that he needed a nap, so he took off that curtain, sat in the chair, and covered himself so no one could disturb him."

"Is that so?" the guard responded. "Hey you! You can't sit in that chair!"

The guard's expression was clearly one of surprise and confusion once she pulled the curtain off only to reveal a completely empty chair. "I was wondering how long it was going to take before you were going to pull that thing off, and you didn't even do it yourself."

Takkins quickly turned around at the sound of his voice, and there stood Gallows right behind her. "How did you-"

"Magician's code. Trade secret."

"You're an extractor, not a magician, and since we're in the same trade, I think that gives me some access."

"Touché. If I'm going to be using some of tricks in a dream, I'll tell you which ones I'm using and where, so let's keep them on a need-to-know bas-"

Gallows stopped mid-sentence when he saw a woman with red hair, green eyes, and freckles nearly pass by him. For a moment, the two of them locked eyes. _It can't be. This is her dream. Susan, you can't be here…_

She had a sad look on her face as she pushed aside a strand of hair with her left hand. Takkins also examined her and noticed that she had two rings on the ring finger of her left hand, but no other jewelry. Once Susan began to walk away from them, Gallows nearly reached out and called to her, but managed to stop himself. _No matter how close I get, I always seem to stop myself just short and let you slip away…_

"Gallows, who was that?"

At the sound of Takkins's voice, Gallows brought his mind back to the present and looked at her. "Just a familiar face, I guess."

_If Takkins's didn't recognize her, then…How is my projection of her coming here?_

"Anyway, that's all I've got for now."

"So how do we get out of here? Just wait for the PASIV device to stop administering the Somnacin?"

"Well, we coul-"

Gallows stopped when he heard an eerie sound effect, like a distortion of the sound of a heavy wind blowing through the trees, come from out of nowhere. The sound was then accompanied by a slow, eerie music box melody. The melody switched from two high notes to two low notes, two more of the high notes, and one low note. The interior of the museum building itself darkened considerably as well as the music continued to play. "Gallows, what's happening?"

"We need to run! Now!"

Gallows immediately took off running to one direction instinctively and Takkins followed not far behind. Gallows then rounded a corner, but as soon as Takkins rounded, she lost sight of him. "Gallows? Gallows?" she shouted as the music continued to play.

Takkins then heard the sound of little children singing along with the music.

_One, two, he's coming for you…_

"What?"

_Three, four, better lock your door…_

"Come on! This isn't funny!"

_Five, six, get your crucifix…_

"Gallows! This is your dream! You're doing this, aren't you?"

_Seven, eight, better stay up late…_

It was at this moment that Takkins ran off in a panic, not caring which way was the correct way.

_Nine, ten…_

Takkins was soon stopped by a man with a brown fedora hat, green and red striped shirt, brown pants, a gloved right hand with claws attached to the fingers, and severe burn scars on every visible square inch of his flesh. "Never sleep again!"

Too frozen in fear to even move, Takkins screamed as the claws on his hand came right to her face.

Takkins immediately sat up, breathing sharply, and tried to get a grasp on where she was. She was back in the interrogation room still hooked up to the PASIV device. She saw several new faces. One of them was a burly bald black man with a smirk on his face. Another was a man with jet-black hair and a trimmed beard and mustache. The last new face was a man with wavy dirty blonde hair and the most mischievous smile on his face and a tube attached to his own wrist. The one face she did recognize was that of the red-headed architect/magician who now had a set of headphones covering his ears and a look on his face that showed him to be doing all that he could to keep himself from bursting in laughter. "Freddy Krueger? Really?" she shouted.

"Oh, don't be like that, baby. It was all in good clean fun," the man with wavy hair replied.

"Baby?"

"Jenna Takkins, meet your fellow teammates, Allen Landers," Gallows said as the black man nodded in acknowledgement.

"Will Russell," Gallows continued as the rugged man waved.

"And the star of our little prank, Phillip Reeve," the man who was currently hooked up to the PASIV device gave a mock bow.

"Not that it didn't have any practical applications," Reeve chimed in.

"Practical applications?" Takkins asked.

"Yeah," Gallows began. "First, it served as a demonstration that, despite whatever movie out there says to the contrary, whenever you die in the dream, you don't die in the real world. Instead, you immediately wake up."

"Said movies that employ such concepts shall go unnamed," Reeve commented.

"Second," Gallows continued while holding up the headphones as a demonstration, "stimuli to your body can influence what happens in the dream. Case in point, a headset playing the Freddy Krueger theme at 12x speed being placed on my head which caused us to hear it throughout the dream-space at normal speed."

"Stimuli to the body can be external or internal, so if you've got some personal business to take care of before going under and creating a dream, be our guest," Russell finally said.

"Did the music affect the dream suddenly going dark as well?"

"No, that was me," Gallows confessed. "I had a feeling I knew what Reeve was going to do, so I altered the dream accordingly. Hey, it was either him or the projections at that point."

"So how did you do that Freddy Krueger impersonation?" Takkins asked, directing her attention to Reeve. "Is that another trade secret?"

"Oh, it's no secret, dear. Impersonating others is my specialty as a forger."

Takkins gave Reeve an incredulous look after being called "dear."

"Anyway, Reeve usually doesn't do anything as outlandish as that. He typically impersonates actual people when need be. Landers was a member of the NYPD before coming up to the big leagues, so he acts as something of a liaison between them and us to help us get some word-on-the-street intel for a particular mark," Gallows continued.

"But don't think I can't hold my own in the dreams, rookie," Landers piped in.

"He might be okay with a gun, but trust me on one thing. Those big arms of his aren't just for show," Reeve also added.

"Moving on, Russell is our point man. You'll be working with him more often than any of us," Gallows said.

"I see. At least that means I won't be wasting most of my time with him," Takkins sharply responded, positioning her thumb at Reeve.

"Aw, that hurt, sweetheart."

"That's precisely why."

"Anyway, I don't think Taylor has a new case for us yet, so we're done for today," Gallows said.

He then unstrapped himself from the PASIV device, walked over to Takkins, and extended his hand. "Welcome to the team."

Takkins then shook it once more after she had unstrapped herself from the device as well. Somehow, she knew that this new assignment was going to lead her into one long and wild ride.


	3. Part 1 Chapter 3

_So what's the difference between an extractor from the black market and an extractor from the FBI? Aside from why we do what we do, not a whole lot, actually. We still go into the dreams of high profile people (our version being that they are under considerable suspicion of criminal activity) and pull some incriminating evidence from their subconscious. We then use that information to make the arrest down the line. The information could be criminal underworld contacts, plans for whatever crime they're going to commit next, or a number of other things. The only thing unique about this new assignment was one that I didn't realize until much later down the line. This could very well have been my last "routine" job._

Chapter 3

With no new assignments, and thus no new levels to create for the dreams for those assignments, Gallows sat back in the standard leather swivel chair in front of his simple, black-painted, wooden desk. Though he was ranked as Special Agent in Charge, and only done so fairly recently, it was really only one step above Special Agent, so all he had for a work area was a cubicle, but one of considerably larger size than what one would normally find in an office building. The walls that surrounded his desk were supposed to have vinyl lining, but nearly every visible square inch of his walls were covered in 8.5"x11" sheets of plain white printer paper that switched between complex mazes, drafting plans, and an occasional printout poster of acts by Harry Houdini and David Copperfield.

The condition of his desk was a tad bit tidier. He had a couple of manila file folders on his desk, a Dell computer set, a couple of grid-ruled spiral notebooks, and the same picture of himself and Susan Eurydice as the one on his nightstand in his bedroom. The two spiral notebooks were marked "Maze Drills" and "Gallows Originals: CLASSIFIED." The latter was a book of plans for magic tricks of his original design, but each one still had kinks to work out.

He reached for book marked "Maze Drills" and opened it, going through each page before finding a blank one. Each page had a maze drawn along the gridlines and had a couple of lines at the top right corner with a time written out, listed as two minutes or less, and the initials KG beside it. Some of the earliest mazes had a pathway going through them marked in hot pink highlighter and a time written below his own, listed as less than a minute, and the initials SE beside it. As Gallows went through each page, some of the mazes became more complex with errors made in the highlighted path and getting closer to the one minute mark. Further into the book of mazes, the times and highlighted paths stopped altogether.

It was a little exercise that he carried over from his college years and his participation in the private sector aspect of dream-share research. He often used it to keep his mind sharp in his spare time between assignments. However, once he reached the first blank sheet of paper in his notebook, he just stared at it, losing the desire to create another labyrinth for the time being.

_Gallows sat at his new desk, barren of anything personal. He didn't have any new assignments which was fine by him since it gave him time to get adjusted to his new surroundings. He brought out two spiral-bound gridline notebooks and placed one of them on the desk. He then opened up the other notebook and thumbed his way to a blank page, drew some lines in the upper right corner, and began to draw a maze out on the page. "So how do you like new digs?"_

_He turned around to see the woman who had introduced herself once before as Susan Eurydice who was now trying to get a look at what he was drawing. "Oh, hey…Eurydice, right?"_

"_Call me Susan. It's easier."_

"_Okay, Susan. Well, it's pretty uh…"_

"_Empty?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Ah, I'm sure you'll be able to fill it up as you go along."_

"_So what brings you over here?"_

"_Well, we don't have any new assignments, so I just thought I'd check up on you. By the way, what's that you're drawing?"_

"_Oh, this?" he replied, showing her the notebook. "It's something I picked up back when I was in college. Some of my friends and I would design a maze in two minutes, and the person working on it would have to solve it in under a minute."_

"_Sounds like fun. Mind if I try it?"_

"_Sure," he replied handing her the book._

"_So what's with the other book," she asked, looking through the first maze._

"_Magician's code. Trade secret."_

"_Oh come on!"_

"_No, I'm being serious. Or at least halfway anyway. It's a book of some ideas I have for magic tricks. Or at least hypothetical ideas anyway. I haven't exactly been able to put them into practice, so I don't know what kinks will have to be worked out. I'd like to be able to try them out sometime so I can have some of my own tricks to my na-"_

"_Done," she interrupted, writing down her time, initialing it, and handing the notebook back to him._

"_Fifteen seconds? I must be getting rusty."_

"_It wasn't bad. I've always had a knack for solving puzzles like that."_

"_I guess that's what makes you such a good extractor, right?"_

"_Partially. So how many more do you have in this thing?"_

"_Are you planning on solving them all?"_

"_Well, what's the point in creating a challenging maze if there's no one to challenge it?"_

"_Point taken."_

_What is the point in creating a challenging maze if there's no one to challenge it?_

"Hey. Hey, Houdini, you okay?"

Gallows snapped out of his reminiscing once he felt a hand shake his shoulder and a familiar voice call his name. Or at least by the nickname that only one person would have given him. "Oh, hey Reeve. Sorry about that. I was just working on a labyrinth."

"Without the pencil touching the paper? I figured magicians would be better liars than that."

"I actually was trying. I just didn't get very far."

"Still thinking about her, huh?"

"I know what you're going to say."

"What? That it's been a year and a half, and you still can't let her go? I know you've got some regrets. We all do. No one could have seen it coming, but you have to let her go. It's not healthy. She's –"

"You think I don't know that? You think I haven't tried?" Gallows shouted.

Silence filled the air the moment Gallows realized what he had just done. Finally coming back to his senses, he said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone off on you like that."

"It's okay, man. Maybe you should just take a long vacation once this next assignment is done. You work way too hard anyway."

"Next assignment?"

"Well, I got word that Taylor's got something for us. Maybe you should go talk to him."

"Right. Oh wait! I just remembered that I forgot to tell Takkins to make a totem! Do you mind, Reeve?"

"Nah, I don't mind. She might, though."

"Give it time. Just because you have a knack for using your charm as a weapon doesn't mean it works on everyone, or not right away at least."

"Right. Well, you have fun with Taylor."

"And you with Takkins."

The desk was left was all but completely barren save for a desktop PC, but that's to be expected when one is brand new to the job. Takkins would have to figure out where the supply closet was so she could at least get the standard stationary things to make it functional. Personal decorations would have to come later. However, after having been inside two exciting dreams, she just felt like taking a breather. She simply sat in the black swivel chair and leaned her head back, closing her eyes for a moment. "Hello again, sweet thing."

She quickly turned to face the one person on her new team that she absolutely could not stand: Phillip Reeve. While Reeve had a sizeable grin on his face, Takkins's face demonstrated that she was getting tired of the nicknames quickly. "What are you doing here?"

"What's with the hostility?"

"What's with the flirty nicknames?"

"What's with the attitude?"

"What's with the indifference?"

"What's with the 'what' questions?"

"What's wi-" she stopped suddenly, realizing how she had just played right into his hands. "Ten seconds of you standing there and I'm already getting a migraine."

"Ah, loosen up a little. Anyway, Gallows asked me to swing by your way to tell you about something he forgot to mention in the initial training."

"And that would be?"

"It'd be a good idea if you made a totem for yourself?"

"A totem? You mean like some wooden pillar?"

"Maybe. It all depends on you. See, when you do this dream-sharing thing long enough, sometimes it gets hard to tell the difference between what's real and what's a dream. So we each carry around some sort of object with some sort of quirk at all times to help us keep track of reality."

"What kind of quirk?"

"Again, that all depends on you, but you have to be the only one who knows about the quirk behind your totem. It could be a particular weight, balance, or even some sort of trick. Gallows's totem, for example, is some sort of trick coin, but he won't tell me what the trick is. You know him. 'Magician's code.'"

"'Trade secret.' I get it."

"Anyway, since he's the only one who knows the trick behind the coin, it becomes a normal coin in someone else's dream, unable to do anything special."

"I see. So what's your totem?"

"This," he replied, brandishing a photograph from his wallet.

Although she could only assume that the event was a wedding reception or something along those lines, she recognizes the subjects that were both staring at the camera, both clearly happy. The first was Kenneth Gallows himself in a simple black tuxedo, white collared shirt, and a black bowtie. The second person was the redheaded woman she had seen in both Gallows's dream and her own now wearing an elegant white wedding dress with the veil pulled back. "I see. So that is his wife after all."

"His wife?" Reeve asked seemingly confused.

"Yeah. I saw her twice in the dreams Gallows and I were in. She seemed sad when she looked at him. I saw the rings on her left hand, so I figured that she was married. I should have known that-"

"That's impossible," Reeve interrupted.

"Huh?"

"This picture was photoshopped. Gallows and Eurydice never even dated, much less got hitched."

"So then why did she have the usual rings on?"

"Probably because Gallows wished she was. He's got some regrets when it comes to her."

"What kind of regrets?"

"Gallows had thought of asking her out from time to time. I tried and tried to get him to go for it, but he just kept getting cold feet. Then, low and behold, by the time he did get the complete resolve to ask her out…she died."

"I see…"

"Obviously, she's a touchy subject for him, so if you're going to ask him about her, be careful how you do it."

"Right."

Gallows stood in front of the oak door with a wire frame window and closed blinds that read "Rick Taylor: Supervisor" and knocked three times. "Come in," responded the older man.

Gallows opened the door and stepped inside Taylor's office, observing the off-white walls decorated with a wide array of books, photographs of family and friends, and even a couple of certificates of some kind. "Ah, Gallows," Taylor said, seated behind his polished redwood desk.

"Hey, Boss. I got word from Reeve that you've got a new assignment lined up for us?"

"I do, yes. Has he told anyone else about this job?"

"As far as I know, no. Even so, he only told me that a job was in the works. No details."

"I see. At any rate, this is your next target," Taylor replied as he handed the architect a manila folder.

Gallows took the folder and thumbed through some of the pages. "Harold Pallidino, huh? Finally calling the big guns on this guy."

"The Bureau has been trying to catch him for months. The circumstantial evidence against him is insurmountable, but every time the Bureau has tried to bring him in for questioning, he manages to slip away."

"I've heard that some of that circumstantial evidence ties him to several major gangs in the city. So I take it you want us to try and find out who his contacts are?"

"Precisely. If we can find out how exactly he's involved and who his contacts are, he'll have nowhere to run."

"And I take it your uneasiness about what I knew in advance is somehow connected."

"Indeed."

"I see…Well then, I'll get the team together."

"Be careful with this assignment, Gallows."

Gallows simply nodded as he exited Taylor's office. While he wanted to ask what Taylor was concerned with, at the same time, he was afraid that he already knew the answer.

Gallows sat back in one of the swivel chairs at one of the ends of the conference room table, playing with his trick coin once again. The first one to enter into the room was Landers, who decided to take the chair to the left of Gallows. "Never a moment's rest for you, huh?"

"Only on the job. How's the family?"

"James is kicking off first grade, and Sharon's still teaching."

"Same class as James?"

"No, thank Heaven."

"That's good."

Takkins was the next person to come in and took a seat next to Landers. Reeve came in shortly afterwards and took a seat on the other side of the table right across from Takkins. He gave her an easy-going smile as Takkins glared daggers at him. Russell was the last of the team to enter into the room and took a seat at the opposite end of Gallows. "Alright, now that everyone's here, let's get started," Gallows began as he slid folders to each member of his team which contained duplicate files and photos of the one he had been given earlier. "Our next target is Harold Pallidino; major stock broker and allegedly a major player in New York City's criminal underworld."

"I've heard of this guy," Reeve interrupted. "Supposedly, he's got connections to each of the Five Families."

"I've heard of him too," Landers also chimed in. "Apparently, he's rumored to have been leading some major shakedowns in some of the Latin Kings' territory over drug business. Narcotics thinks he's got some business in dealing illegal substances as well. Hence the shakedowns, but so far, they haven't been able to figure out where he's got his hand and how he's getting a hold of the product."

"If this guy has so many connections to organized crime, how has he not been brought in by now?" Takkins asked.

"It's all rumors and circumstantial evidence," Russell finally said. "There's still a missing link that's keeping the authorities from being able to put two and two together, no matter which two you're trying to put together."

"And that's where we come in," Gallows resumed. "Our job is to go inside this guy's mind and extract his contacts and specific means of involvement in each of these groups."

"So where do we start?" she asked.

"First, we need to a little more research. Landers, I want you to get with NYPD and see what you can come up with as far as the activities of the people Pallidino is connected with. Also, I want you to tail him and see where he goes. Russell, I need you to do some additional digging into Pallidino's personal information. Be on the lookout for any signs of whether or not he's been trained."

"Trained?" Takkins asked.

"If a person has the money, needless to say Pallidino does, he can hire an extractor's services on the black market and have that extractor go into his subconscious and teach the subconscious to defend itself against any other extractor that tries to get in. In short, if you thought the projections in a dream were nasty before, you ain't seen nothing until you've seen the projections of a trained subconscious," Russell explained.

"Takkins, I want you to try and get Pallidino's schedule for the next few months."

"Is the research going to take that long?"

"Not really, but I want to know what he's going to be doing that far in advance so we can figure out the best time to make our move."

"Gotcha."

"So what do you want me to do, boss?" Reeve asked.

"Nothing for right now. We'll wait until the others have finished their research before we try to figure out what you're going to be doing."

"So I'm guessing it's a forged personality you're looking for from me."

"Right. We'll figure out which one to do once we cross that bridge, but until then, go ahead and look through some of the known contacts. Somebody else in Pallidino's broker business may be in on his criminal activities as well."

"And what will you be doing?" Russell asked the team leader.

"I'll try to come up with some preliminary mazes, but I won't be able to have anything definite until Landers gets with me on the results of his research. Any questions?"

Russell raised his hand. "What's the method of extraction going to be?"

"I don't know yet. That'll depend on the information you and Landers come up with. Alright, team, you're dismissed."

With the tasks given and the day coming to a close, Gallows made his way back home. He opened the door to his apartment and checked the side of it. _There doesn't seem to be any signs of forced entry here. Either the extractor had a key to my place or was able to use the windows. As unlikely as the windows might be, you never know with some people._

He then went inside his one bedroom apartment, which had a living room, a kitchen/dining room, and the one bathroom. He didn't have very many visitors come by, so he kept the place clean for his own sake. The living room had beige painted walls adorned with a bookshelf, a few pictures of family members, and a 32" HDTV supported by a simple stand made from five pieces of black woodchip boards with one of the boards horizontally dividing the stand in two to create shelf storage. In front of the TV was a futon bed, though it mostly stayed in the couch position. While many have commented that the place lacked a woman's touch, Gallows consciously tried to not bring that comment up.

He checked the window in the kitchen, but he didn't see any signs of forced entry there either. He then went inside his bedroom and examined the small window above his headboard. Again, he couldn't see any signs of forced entry, though someone actually being able to fit through such a small window was highly unlikely. Once he set his feet back on the floor, he looked at the queen-sized bed and his mind went back in time once more.

"_So this is a taste of forever, huh?" Kenneth asked his partner in bed, the woman who just recently became Susan Eurydice Gallows._

"_Yeah," she replied, entwining the fingers of her right hand with his left. "It won't always be as nice as this, though."_

"_It's okay. I know we'll get through the tougher spots."_

_With that, she moved her body closer to him, let go of his hand, and slipped both of her arms around him. "Hey," she softly began to say, "do you remember that line you told me? What a friend of yours said once?"_

"_I do, yes."_

"_Could you tell it to me one more time? I know you said you thought it was corny, but I liked it."_

"_Okay."_

For the rest of that moment in time, he could only see his lips moving and her lips moving as if they were trading lines in a conversation. He couldn't make out what the two of them were saying until her final words broke through.

"_We'll be together."_

Gallows shook his head as he brought his mind back to reality, bending the trick coin back and releasing it over and over again. Once he reestablished his bearings, he decided to just crash on his bed rather than go through the nightly routine. _Maybe I should take a vacation after all. Or maybe even see a psychiatrist or something. It's bad enough that my memories of her are haunting me more and more. It's even worse when I'm being haunted by memories of her that never actually happened._


	4. Part 1 Chapter 4

_They say that it's better to have love and lost than to never have loved at all. For me, the in-between part was what killed me the most. It was finally realizing that I was in love only to never see if anything could have ever been. Susan was a woman who enjoyed trying to get into my head, not knowing that she was getting into my heart too. The regrets I carried of her had turned her into a projection that seemed to be around no matter where I went; a ghost that always haunted me just outside the realm of consciousness with memories of events together both in reality and fantasy._

Chapter 4

Gallows pulled his black Camaro into a vacant parking space inside the FBI HQ's towering parking garage, shifted the car into Park, gathered his papers and folders, and turned the car off. Once he left the confines of his car and stepped into the dimly lit confines of solid concrete with an elevator door, a lit exit sign, and stripes of yellow and white paint to depict symbols, directions, and parking spaces as the only decorations, he looked outside the open air window, the garage's only source of natural light. From this height, he could easily see the usual commotion surrounding a staircase that led to the nearest subway station.

_"You know, I think you're getting better at this job," Susan began as she and Gallows exited an elevator and went into the parking garage, her words echoing everywhere with the acoustic design of the space._

_ "But all I do is just design the levels."_

_ "Oh don't be so modest. You don't just design the levels. You guide us through them, tell us where the tricks are and how to use them and it really helps keep us alive. Heck, even your daily drills are getting harder for me to do. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if people are going to start thinking that you're the team leader instead of me."_

_ "Thanks, Susan. I appreciate that."_

_ "Anyway, we should probably work a little bit on your conversation abilities too. Words can be a powerful tool in this kind of work."_

_ "So next up is learning to be a con artist?"_

_ "You were a magician-in-training, Ken. You should be so good at conning people that people know that you're going to con them and they still pay you just to con them."_

_ "Gee, thanks," he replied sarcastically._

_ "I'm just joking. Kind of…Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow," Susan concluded as she went back to the elevator._

_ "Your car isn't here?"_

_ "Nah, I usually take the subway to work. I was just enjoying the conversation. Anyway, I better get going, or it's going to be next to impossible to catch a ride."_

_ Once she said that, Gallows chuckled. However, it wasn't the kind of chuckle one would make when they thought a joke was funny. "What? What is it?"_

_ "Sorry. You just reminded me of a pick-up line an old friend of mine once used to get a girl. Strangely enough, it worked really well."_

_ "What was it?"_

_ "Ah, nothing important."_

_ "Oh no you don't. If I have to hear 'Magician's Code. Trade secret,' from you for something like this…"_

_ "It's not that. It's just…kind of cheesy if you ask me."_

_ "But you said that it worked, so it can't be that bad. Come on. I want to hear it."_

Gallows quickly shook his head as he brought his mind back to reality, bending the trick coin in his pocket back and forth over and over again as he made his way to the elevator and readied himself for the big reveal of his plan to his team. _If I don't stop doing this to myself, I swear I'm going to wind up breaking this coin._

The team magician sat back in the conference room chair with his hands folded in front of his face as he awaited the remaining members of his team. It had been about three weeks since he sent for each of the members of his team to do their own individual research, and many of them have been giving him updates during that time. He had begun to formulate a plan based on what they had told him thus far, but he had been keeping it pretty close to the chest, heeding Taylor's warning.

Russell was the first to enter into the conference room, taking his seat at the other end of the table. Landers came in soon after and took a seat to Gallows's left. Takkins came in next and took her seat two chairs away from Gallows's right. Reeve was the last to enter and took the empty chair between Gallows and Takkins, beaming as his female colleague shot him a look of irritation. "Alright, now that everyone's here, let's begin. Our target is Harold Pallidino, a man with subtle connections to New York's criminal underworld, but seemingly no concrete evidence to substantiate these connections. Landers, let's start with you."

"Alright," the burly black man started, "I've checked in with NYPD's narcotics division about the rival drug market that Pallidino is supposedly connected to. It turns out that the drugs that are getting pushed originate from other countries including Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica."

"Hold on," Gallows interrupted. "Didn't you say earlier that this market was competing against the Latin Kings?"

"Yes I did. And given the origin of these drugs, NYPD thinks that MS-13 could be the importers. They operate in both North and Central America, and they have a long standing rivalry against the Kings."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah. I've also been tailing Pallidino, and it turns out that he frequents an underground establishment called the _Illusion_."

"Sounds like your kind of place already, boss," Reeve jokingly piped in.

"Agreed," Gallows replied.

"What?"

"With no solid evidence to his activities concerning the Latin Kings, MS-13, or even the Five Families, we need to put him in a familiar place where he feels he can lower his guard and bring in the projections of the people he's connected to."

"So we're doing a conversation extraction?" Landers asked.

"That's right."

"Conversation extraction?" Takkins asked

"Remember how I demonstrated that you can get information from a subject's subconscious by talking to their projections before? That's what we're going to be doing," Gallows replied. "Reeve, you and I are going to check this place out ourselves and create a dream level around this establishment once we make our move."

"Just the two of you?" Russell asked.

"Goons like the guys we're dealing with here can sniff out cops like they're chain smokers," Reeve replied. "Best to let the two best cons in the team check this place out."

Gallows cleared his throat after being called a con and continued. "Moving on, Russell, what did you manage to dig up?"

"Well," began the rugged man, "first off, there doesn't seem to be any indication that Pallidino has been trained. Secondly, I took a look into some of his personnel within his broker business. It turns out that his right hand man, Jonathan Conrad, also handles the books, so if anyone knows where the money is coming from, it's him."

"Conrad also has a criminal record for racketeering. He could be instrumental in organizing the shakedowns," Landers interrupted.

"Then it looks like I picked the right guy," Reeve interjected once more with a boastful tone.

"What do you mean?" asked Takkins.

"I took a look into some of Pallidino's contacts and decided to take up a fairly high position in Pallidino's broker business so I could do my own research."

"How the heck did you manage to get a high level position in a major New York stock business in less than three weeks?"

"Oh, I have my ways, sweet cheeks."

"Sweet cheeks?" Takkins shouted.

"Save it for after the meeting, you two. Now then, Reeve, if you would please continue."

"My pleasure. Anyway, while I was there, I was observing Conrad the most, so while we're in the dream, I can take on Conrad's appearance, talk to Pallidino personally and maybe get him to divulge a little more information from his own lips."

"I like the sound of that," Gallows picked up. "Okay, here's the plan. Reeve and I will investigate the _Illusion_. Once we're done there, I'll construct a maze based on the establishment while Reeve constructs the dream itself. Once we make our move, Takkins, Landers, and I will find some projections to try and extract information from while Reeve takes on Conrad's appearance and talks to Pallidino directly. Russell, I'll also construct a secure room, so while we're doing our conversation extractions, you'll navigate the maze, go inside the room, and gather hard, detailed information on the things that Reeve can get Pallidino to talk about. Any questions?"

Takkins raised her hand for a moment and replied, "Do you want me to give you Pallidino's schedule?"

"After the meeting."

"Wait. Isn't it important to know when we're going to make our move and where?" Russell asked.

"I'll let you know once I get a better idea of what he's going to do and as we get closer to D-day, so be ready at any time."

"What? How are we supposed to prepare to make our move when we don't even know when we're going to do it?" Russell nearly shouted.

"I'm with Russell on this," Landers said. "It's not like you to give us such little advance warning."

"Magician's code. Trade secret."

The three men in the conference room groaned once he uttered that line. Perhaps the only thing more annoying than how often he said it was his absolute resolve to silence once he said it in a serious situation. "If you're that concerned with preparation, then I suggest you start preparing now. Alright team. Dismissed."

It was getting close to the end of the day, and Takkins was getting ready to go home for the night. Grabbing her jacket and her folders, she left her desk and made her way to the elevator. As she passed through the stainless steel mechanized doors, she realized that she had yet to give Gallows Pallidino's schedule. Pressing the button for the fourth floor, she stood still as she felt the brief shift of momentum as the elevator descended and stopped at the floor she had assigned.

She exited the elevator and passed by a small room. Through the solitary window in the enclosed space, she could see Gallows lying asleep connected to a PASIV device. It was the very same room that she had her first experience with dream-sharing. She saw him do this quite often since they were given the assignment. Sometimes Reeve would be hooked up as well, and the team forger had always woken up before the architect. He explained that he was helping Gallows with some of the preliminary layouts and tricks that would be involved in the dream, but he always wanted to stay a little longer to work on the level a little more. With her curiosity getting the better of her, she went inside the room, took a seat next to Gallows, attached a tube from the complex machine to her left wrist, and reclined back.

Takkins looked around the dimly lit twelve hundred seat auditorium and noticed that every single plush, wine red vinyl seat had its main cushion turned upward save for her own. As she turned her gaze towards the stage, she saw one man crouching down and going through a cardboard box, set against a large backdrop of random memorabilia including a carousel horse, a wire frame globe, a fancy wooden chair, an oak table with some object placed on top that was obscured by a large white sheet, and many other larger objects that were obscured by shadow. She immediately recognized the man who was positioned center stage as Kenneth Gallows. The magician then pulled out what appeared to be a 24"x24" leather book and turned through each page, savoring the contents as a song began to play in the background.

_I send a message to you_

_I close my eyes, and hope it gets through_

_It's in the language of love_

_It's in your touch. There in your mouth._

As Gallows continued to go through the book, movement came from underneath the sheet that obscured the object placed on top of the table. That object turned out to be a red-haired woman sitting in a second fancy chair, stretching her neck, and fixing her gaze upon the man going through the book.

_I wonder if you hear me tonight_

_Sometimes you're so far away_

_I want to have you near me tonight_

_Do you belong to me?_

Susan Eurydice slowly made her way down the table, never once taking her eyes off Gallows.

_Who loves you? Who you gonna run to?_

_Who loves you? Whatcha gonna do about it?_

_Who loves you? Who you gonna run to?_

_Who loves you? Whatcha gonna do about it now?_

The magician immediately placed his right hand on her two-ring adorned left hand as soon as she placed her hands on his arms and her head on his shoulder. He then quickly turned around to face her and they embraced as if they were long lost lovers just before leading her to center stage.

_So tired, I can't fall asleep_

_I close my eyes, and breathe in the heat_

_I've got this passion for you_

_Like inspiration, out of the blue_

Gallows then picked her up and slowly twirled her around before slowly setting her down. Eurydice then placed her back against Gallows's front, took his hands, and wrapped his arms around her for another embrace, entwining her fingers with his own for a brief moment.

_I wonder if you hear me tonight_

_Sometimes you're so far away_

_I want to have you near me tonight_

_Do you belong to me?_

He then led her back to where the box was and crouched down by the right side of the box while she did the same on the opposite side. Gallows then pulled a string out of the box, held the top end of the string between his left thumb and index finger, and lit the bottom end on fire, the brilliant flame rapidly chasing the remaining length of the string. Once it reached the top, Gallows slightly flicked his wrist, and a piece of yellow cloth, longer than the string that was in its place, descended from Gallows's fingertips. He then quickly grabbed the bottom portion of the cloth with his right hand, brought it above his left, and slowly lowered it to reveal a rose being supported by his left hand. He then kissed the rose before handing it to Eurydice who smelled it and kissed his cheek upon receiving it.

_Who loves you? Who you gonna run to?_

_Who loves you? Whatcha gonna do about it?_

_Who loves you? Who you gonna run to?_

_Who loves you? Whatcha gonna do about it now?_

The red-haired woman then grabbed a stray sheet behind the box, approached Gallows again from behind, and kissed his cheek again after draping the sheet over his shoulders. She then playfully moved the sheet from his shoulders and completely covered his head and quickly made her way back to the table. Gallows pulled the sheet off of him as quickly as he could, desperate to prevent what he knew was coming next. He turned to face the table, but Eurydice had already taken her place in the seat on the table that she came from and placed the sheet that covered her originally over herself again. Gallows saw there was still a large lump in the sheet where her head was and moved the table from side to side, revealing that there was no trap door or tunnel underneath for her to escape. However, he knew that wasn't going to matter. He climbed on top of the table and prepared himself for what was to come.

_Who loves you? Who you gonna run to?_

_Who loves you? Whatcha gonna do about it?_

_Who loves you? Who you gonna run to?_

_Who loves you? Whatcha gonna do about it?_

_Who loves you? Who you gonna run to?_

_Who loves you? Whatcha gonna do about it?_

_Who loves you? Who you gonna run to?_

_Who loves you? Whatcha gonna do about it now?_

_Whatcha gonna do about it now?_

Gallows grabbed the sheet from behind and quickly pulled it back, revealing a solitary and empty chair.

_I send a message to you_

_I close my eyes and hope it gets through…_

The magician then went back to the cardboard box to look through the book once more. What he didn't expect was seeing Takkins reading through the book. After glancing at some of the pages, she turned her gaze toward her leader. "Nice performance. Houdini trick?"

"Copperfield, actually. It's called 'Attic'."

Takkins could tell that he was upset, and after going through the book, perhaps rightfully so. She opened up the book and turned it towards him, revealing that the book was in fact a photo album of Gallows and Susan both in wedding attire. "These pictures are very good and vivid considering that they're of an even that never happened."

"Reeve told you, huh?"

"Only that you two never dated, much less married. However, I get the feeling that there's a connection between these pictures and why you're projection of her has an engagement ring and wedding band."

"You may become a good extractor yet," Gallows replied, now trying to cover his irritation of being revealed with a joke.

Takkins's face betrayed no emotion, clearly not finding the joke funny. "Tell me about her."

"Why do you want to know?"

"If I'm going to see her in every dream you're in, no matter whose dream it is, I'd like to know what I'm going to deal with."

Gallows sighed and looked away for a little bit. "She was a forger like Reeve, the team leader, and one of its first members. Aside from Taylor, she was the first person I met on the team. She was very smart and persistent to a fault at times. She would always come by to solve some mazes I had drawn up. I guess she just had a thing for picking at my brain. Maybe that's what drew me to her…"

"Reeve also said that you didn't gather the courage to ask her out until she died."

"Yeah. I always felt an attraction toward her, but I never acted on it. She was my boss, and there was no way to tell if her constant socializing with me was anything beyond platonic."

"So what changed your mind?"

"…I had a dream."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. I've had a few dreams of her before, but this one was so vivid that I couldn't forget it if I tried. And believe me, I've tried."

"Let me guess. You dreamed that the two of you were married."

"Starting from our honeymoon and ending on our one year anniversary. Every day, every night, every moment was so clear and wonderful. If that dream was a taste of forever, I would have done anything to make it real."

"So that's the regret you have of her. She was gone, and you couldn't make that dream come true."

"Right…"

His voice was much softer now. He had never talked to this extent about his feelings for Susan with anyone before including Reeve. Takkins could tell from his face that while talking was relieving some of his stress, the pain wasn't going away. And the next question may be the most painful yet. "Gallows…how did she die?"

Gallows's face was a mix of sadness and frustration, possibly even anger. He turned his head upward and took a deep breath. "…I don't know."

That response was the last one Takkins had expected to hear. "You don't…what do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean exactly as it sounds."

"But there had to have been some autopsy or obituary or-"

"There wasn't, okay? No autopsy, no death certificate, no obituary, no report, no body, no funeral, nothing! Just a piece of memo stationary left on my desk saying that she's dead! Like that one little scrap of paper was all she ever meant to them!"

Gallows took in another deep breath and looked at Takkins. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Many other people would have been understanding and consoling after an outburst like that. Others might have been frustrated, and rightfully so. Takkins, on the other hand, had a look on her face akin to that of a light bulb engaging with a new thought. "Earlier, you've said you tried to forget her. How have you done that?"

"First, I spent more time on the PASIV so I could lose my ability to naturally dream and risk reliving it again. Then I tried to consciously block out thoughts of the past of her. But no matter what I do, her memory is always haunting me like a ghost. Every little thing is starting to remind me of her. Even my projection of her is starting to appear in every dream I'm in. It's like the harder I try to forget her, the more I remember her."

"I don't think consciously trying to forget her is going to help."

"Then what would you suggest?"

"More details."

"Huh?"

"If you ask me, the problem comes from the fact that you know very little of her death. All you got was a sheet of paper saying that she's dead. You're a professional extractor and an illusionist on top of that. You should know more than anyone that simple words are the first veil of deception. For all you know, she may not even be dead."

"No, I know-"

"Because someone else told you. I know you're trying to accept that she's dead, but you're trying to get to the last stage of grieving before you clear the first. No matter how hard you try to rationalize it or deny it, there's still some part of you deep within your subconscious that can't accept that she's dead."

"Makes sense as to why her projection acts the way she does. She's the combination of fantasy and reality."

"Of wanting to be with her and knowing that you can't be with her."

"Right."

"They say that a ghost can't move on into the next life until some unfinished task is complete. If you're going to be able to move on, you have to gather more details and prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that she's dead. Only then can you finally put her to rest."

Gallows smiled and chuckled for a moment. "What? What is it?" Takkins asked.

"Looks like you wound up being assigned to be a psychiatrist anyway."


	5. Part 1 Chapter 5

_I've sometimes been known to keep certain things a secret. Heck, illusion is all about secrets. But to be honest, to keep my team as much in the dark as I did was a real struggle for me. I trust my team. You have to in this kind of work, or else everything could fall apart. Keeping some of the finer details from them kept me thinking about how this assignment could fall apart before it really got off the ground, but orders are orders. I got so bogged down and focused on the assignment for the past few weeks that I nearly forgot about the extractor who tried to pull information from me the morning we got it. Then a little reminder came along…_

Chapter 5

Gallows leaned back slightly in the booth seat as he drank his cup of coffee. He was seated in a simple diner with black-splotched gray tables occupied with salt and pepper shakers and shiny metal napkin dispensers, off-white booth seats, peppered white tile flooring, and white walls encompassing the entire interior save for the window-paned wall that led outside to the bustling New York City streets. Some might have called the diner itself drab. Others might have called it boring. However, considering that he seemed to be the diner's only customer at the moment, he would have had to agree on both counts.

It was during these personal musings that he stuck his hand in his pocket and began to play with a single, simple coin. It was also at this time that a burly man with blonde hair and doe-brown eyes walked in and took the booth seat right across from Gallows. "Agent Gallows, correct?"

"Yes, that's me," Gallows simply replied.

"Pleasure to meet you. Cid Caldwell of DHS," the muscular man greeted as he extended his hand for a handshake.

"Homeland Security, huh? Now this is unexpected," Gallows responded as he shook his hand but finding it rather odd that a man of his build could have such a gentle handshake.

"Yes indeed," Caldwell replied.

"I'm assuming that this isn't some personal run-in given the fact that there's no one else here."

"Very perceptive. Indeed, this is a business matter. Have you already ordered?"

"Just the coffee."

"Alright. Now then, what can you tell me about this person?" Caldwell asked as he slid Gallows a dossier file.

He opened up the folder and the first thing he saw was a picture of Susan Eurydice. "She's an old colleague. She was the AIC of my team before her death," he replied, taking one hand away from the folder and fiddling with one of the napkin dispensers.

"Her death? Could you give me the circumstances of her death?"

"I'm sure someone of your position would have a better understanding of the circumstances than I would. Otherwise, you wouldn't be talking to me in a secluded area about a dead woman," Gallows shot back as he continued to reposition the napkin dispenser.

"Sounds like I hit a sore spot. By the way, what are you doing?"

"When you do what I do and how I do it for as long as I've done it, you get to be a little obsessive compulsive about the placement of things," he replied, finally letting go of the dispenser.

"A craftsman's attention to detail, I see. Anyway, I need you to tell me everything you can about this woman."

"Well, she was very persistent, smart, darn good at navigating the human mind, and, in my opinion, attractive in her own particular way."

"Is that all?"

"Well, I was certainly hoping that you weren't looking for her measurements. I don't exactly know them, so I can't give them to you, and anything else I would have to say is either irrelevant to your research or none of your business."

"Are you always this…inhospitable?"

"Only under certain situations."

"Very well, then I'll get straight to the point. I need you to tell me everything you can about the capacity of this woman's abilities in a dream."

"Why is that?"

"We believe that her mastery of navigating the human mind has allowed her an ability that could be detrimental to the country."

"What kind of ability are we talking here?"

"That's classified, I'm afraid. It's strictly on a need-to-know basis."

"As the current AIC of her former team, I think I qualify as being on a need-to-know basis."

"If you can get me the information on her, I'll contact you again with the full details."

_So he wants information, huh?_

"Alright, but how about a card trick before you go?"

"Excuse me?"

"Just a little demonstration of what I'm capable of," Gallows replied, pulling out a deck of cards from his pants pocket. "Just to see if I would be considered just as dangerous as she is."

"Alright. I'll humor you."

"Alright. Now then, I'm going to quickly thumb through this deck of cards," he began, fanning out the entire deck to show that every card is different before collapsing it again into a solitary deck. "Once I start thumbing through them, I want you to point at the deck, and that's where I'll stop, and that's going to be your card, got it?"

"Very well."

Gallows placed his thumb at the bottom of the deck of cards, lifted the entire deck, and slid his thumb up the side of the deck, allowing each card to fall one by one in rapid succession until Caldwell pointed at the deck. The card that Gallows had stopped on was the ten of spades. "Alright, now picture that card in your mind," he said as he shuffled the deck. "I'm going to read your mind and find your card, but in order for me to do so, I need you to concentrate on that card as hard as you can so I can read it more clearly."

"If you insist."

Gallows then closed his eyes and shuffled the deck of cards in his hands before pulling the king of hearts from the top of the deck. "Is this your card?" he asked Caldwell, displaying the card.

"Nope. Try again."

"Okay, but I really need your concentration on this. I can't read your mind if you don't," he replied before shuffling the deck again and pulling the top card. "Is this your card?"

Caldwell briefly looked at the nine of clubs and said, "Nope. Try again."

"Okay, one more time. Remember, I need full concentration," he replied before shuffling the deck again and pulling the top card. "Is this your card?" he asked, showing him the ace of diamonds.

"Nope. Sorry."

"Dang it!" he shouted before hurling the entire deck at a window, briefly shocking Caldwell.

As the cards collided with the glass and flew every which way possible, the ten of spades remained stuck on the outside of the glass. "Oh look. There it is," he then said, pointing to the card while turning his head to look at the napkin dispenser which was now casting the reflection of a rather feminine hand where his fellow patron's hand should be.

"That was a very interesting trick, Gallows."

"Oh that? That wasn't the trick, Ms. Forger."

_I might not be good at forging myself, but I know a little about how it works. A forger has to be able to successfully project an image of another person onto himself which takes a great deal of concentration. They often use mirrors as a means of gauging the accuracy of their projection. If they can fool a mirror, they can fool a person. However, if they lose their concentration enough, the mirror will reveal the person behind the projection. By having Caldwell concentrate on the card, she was losing concentration on maintaining her image little by little. Then when I threw the deck, it shocked her enough to lose a greater amount of concentration, and thus the man behind the curtain is revealed by a reflective surface to be a woman._

Caldwell's eye widened before "he" glanced down at the napkin dispenser that was now casting a part of his true reflection. "So my cover is blown. How did you find out?"

"Magician's code. Trade secret," Gallows replied, drawing his standard issue sidearm from the holster underneath his windbreaker and aiming it at Caldwell. "At any rate, you've got five seconds to start telling me who you are and what you want with me."

"You're in no position to threaten me, magician. You're in here all alone, and if I die, you would have accomplished nothing."

"Ah, well I suppose I can let you in on one little secret."

"Which is?" Caldwell asked just before hearing a gun cocked and turning "his" head to face a projection in the form of Susan Eurydice aiming an FBI standard issue sidearm right at Caldwell's head.

"Street magic can be a lot of things, but rarely is it impromptu. Somewhere is a prepped item or even a lovely assistant."

Caldwell then turned to face Gallows once more the moment he heard the sound of a gunshot ring out and watched him slump over the table with a fresh entry wound to his temple.

Gallows suddenly woke with a jolt in his own room and turned his head from side to side, but as quickly as he awoke from the suicidal shot, he felt the texture of a leather-gloved hand on the back of his neck and another that covered his mouth and nose with a piece of cloth. As hard as he tried to free himself from his assailant's grasp, he couldn't help but breathe in the fumes of the chloroform on the cloth, and his struggling ceased as he lost consciousness.

When he awoke the next morning, he tried desperately to try and shake off the grogginess. Holding his head, he desperately tried to think. _A female forger who wants information about Susan? Could it have been the same extractor as before? The idea of betrayal and an ability that could harm the country? What the heck is going on?_

After breathing in deeply and calming himself down, he began to get gather his bearings a little more. Three weeks had passed since he had sent the other members of his team to do their respective ends of research. An additional week had passed since he met with his team to discuss the plan, and he and Reeve had visited the Illusionclub and worked out the kinks in the final design. The last piece of the puzzle was the one piece he intentionally didn't discuss in the last team meeting: when to make their move. Takkins had given him Pallidino's schedule, and although he had decided when, where, and how he was going to make the move, the only instruction he could give the rest of his team in that regard was to be ready at a moment's notice. He looked to his nightstand and grabbed his smartphone, thumbing away at the touch screen's QWERTY keypad and sending a message to each member of his team. The time was now.

With a satisfied smile, a rotund man in his late 50's with receding silver hair walked out of Jean George's French restaurant, still contemplating the savory taste of the steak meal that he had finished off just ten minutes ago. He then hailed a cab and climbed in, putting further distance between himself and the five-star restaurant. "Where to, sir?" asked the middle-eastern cab driver.

"Mandarin Oriental," the man replied.

As the driver obeyed his customer's command and made his way to Central Park Avenue to begin his necessary order of wading through the multitude of streams of automobiles that ran through New York City, a stationary white Oldsmobile began its own trek and followed the cab. "Sir, the mark is on the move," spoke Landers into a cellphone.

"Right on schedule. Keep me posted if he deviates," Gallows replied at the other end.

"Roger that. Landers out," concluded the muscular black man as he closed his phone and continued his pursuit.

Once the cellphone conversation ended, Gallows placed his own phone back in his pocket and looked briefly at the most prominent source of illumination in the room: monitors in the main security room of the Mandarin Orient. He then turned to face Russell who was sitting two chairs down from him. "Well, so far so good," Gallows informed his fellow occupant

"Everything else is set in place."

"What's taking Reeve so long?" Gallows asked aloud.

"I don't see him on any of the monitors, and it doesn't take that long to help Takkins get ready."

No sooner had Russell responded that the forger in question walked into the security room with three chili dogs in hand. "All these fancy places to eat and the nearest vendor is two blocks down."

"You walked two blocks down the street for chili dogs?" Russell exclaimed

"Hey, nothing in the world beats street vendor chili dogs from New York City," Reeve replied, placing one in front of each of his partners.

"I appreciate the gesture, but I don't think this is a good idea for you," Gallows commented.

"Ah, what's the worst that could happen?" Reeve responded after taking a large bite from his own piece of New York street cuisine.

Harold Pallidino approached the reception desk and was greeted by a young woman with red lipstick dressed in a red uniform with her brown hair placed entirely within her matching red uniform cap with a golden fan embroidered on the front. "Welcome to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Spa. How may I help you?" she greeted the client with a smile.

"Yes, I have a reservation under Pallidino."

With a curt nod, she turned her attention to the computer in front of her and rapped on the keyboard with great speed and precision. "Ah yes, we have you reserved for a VIP Spa Suite. Shall I escort you to your room?"

"A personal escort from the receptionist? That's unusual," Pallidino replied, a lecherous tone in his speech coming through quite clear.

"I apologize, sir, but we seem to be shorthanded at the moment, and I'm sure you would much rather be checked into your room as soon as possible rather than wait for one of our attendants."

"Oh no, it's quite alright, miss."

"Well then, if you'll follow me, please."

With that, the young woman stepped away from the desk and lead the way to Pallidino's reserved VIP suite, feeling the heated gaze of the aforementioned customer on her backside during the entire length of the journey. One elevator ride and treks down two hallways later, the woman brandished the keycard and opened the door just before passing the coded plastic onto the room's registered occupant. With one last trailing gaze starting from the woman's red high heels to the red uniform cap, he entered the room and closed the door. Once the door was closed, the woman made her way back down the hall and let out a sigh of disgust just before removing her cap, pulling out the cellphone stored within, and dialing the number of her superior. "Takkins here. The mark is in place."

"Roger that. Standby for extraction," Gallows replied, ending the phone call.

Once he ended the conversation, Landers walked into the security room. "So what'd I miss?"

"Pallidino just walked into the suite," Russell replied.

"Once he hits the steam room, we'll make our move," Gallows added.

"Let's just hope he goes into that thing with a towel," Reeve piped in.

With a towel wrapped around his waist, Pallidino walked inside the private steam room in his suite. The room was circular, had slate tiles and convex ceiling, and was pretty large considering that only one person was going to be using it. He then sat down at the position directly opposite the door on the yellow mosaic tile seat that encompassed the entire wall of the room and looked up at the ceiling as he relaxed and basked in the warm vapors and mist that filled the room. A few minutes into his reveling of decadence, he noticed a strange smell. He thought that maybe there was a mechanical malfunction of some kind at first, but he became groggier with each passing second. By the time his survival instincts kicked in, he was too far gone and passed out on the seat.

"Alright, he's out! Let's move!" Gallows emphatically ordered.

The four men in the security room soon bolted out the door to rendezvous with Takkins. Once the disguised female agent saw her teammates approach the suite door, she grabbed her spare keycard and unlocked the door for them. At the rear of the line was Reeve who was wiping away the last remnants of sauce from his hastily devoured chili dog. "You know, Takkins, you're pretty-"

"Shut up, Reeve! I'm not in the mood!"

"You're never in the mood."

"Well, I'm least in the mood right now," bellowed the newest recruit to the team forger.

"Okay then, scratch what I was about to say earlier…You're _very _good at acting."

The young brunette paid him no comment as she walked by him and regrouped with the remaining members of her team. Once Landers carried Pallidino out of the steam room, he laid him in a recliner while Russell unlocked the safe and pulled out the PASIV device left there in advance and set the timers. "Okay. We've got one hour on the clock."

"So we've got twelve hours in the dream to get the job done. That should be plenty of time," Gallows responded as he extended one of the tubed from its retractable coil and inserted the small needle into his left wrist and fastened it with a Velcro strap. Gallows placed himself closest to the dream machine and watched everyone follow suite in preparation for the upcoming task. "Everyone ready?"

Once he received an affirming nod from each member of his team as they reclined in various seats surrounding the device, he placed one finger just above the large white button. "Alright people, break a leg," he said just before pressing the button and feeling the Somnacin enter into his H


End file.
